Open Letter to GMA

WE, members of the Global March Against Child Labor composed of working children, civil society movers, workers, international organizations, and government agencies, call on the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to prioritize the healing of the lives of 3.7 million Filipino working children, the primary building block for healing and rebuilding a broken nation. If these children continue to suffer, what chance does the nation have to recover from the brokenness brought about by the gap between rich and poor, educated and illiterate?

Child Labor remains as one of the most blatant forms of child exploitation, effectively marginalizing millions of Filipino working children engaged in it. Their numbers have increased as parents are forced out of work. Many have sacrificed their schooling to survive, and have ventured far away from home to find work and cash. But in a society such as ours struggling to get back on its knees, child labor does not mean more jobs. More importantly, it means the perpetuation of the vicious cycle of poverty and lost childhood.

The Philippines is recognized as one of the forerunners of child labor protection in Asia. The strong legal framework is reinforced with the recent ratification of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182 which requires immediate actions on the worst forms of child labor, including slavery, trafficking, forced conscription to armed conflicts, and to any work endangering children's health, safety and morals. The new treaty shall provide protective measures to Filipino children working in the most hazardous forms of child labor such as mining, quarrying, pyrotechnics, muro-ami or deep sea fishing, abusive domestic service, child victims of illegal recruitment and trafficking, and child prostitution.

Our country is also recognized worldwide as one of the bastions of creative synergy between civil society, government, workers, and business communities. The massive awareness that sprung from a historic kick-off of the Global March Against Child Labor in Manila last 1998 mirrors the spirit of social change of EDSA 2.

It is this same strength in partnership that will continue to guard and work for good governance which is equally important key in our rallying calls for education and justice for all, attacking root causes of poverty and international solidarity.

To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the launching of the Global March Against Child Labor, we will mobilize more than 3,000 working children and civil society movers at the Quezon Memorial Circle on Saturday, February 3, 2001.

As long as our children continue to engage in child labor instead of being in schools, our future generation of Filipino citizens will be ill-equipped to handle the responsibilities of governance.

Recognizing that education is the key to ensuring a stronger democracy and an informed citizenry, we therefore urge Her Excellency to act immediately on the following concerns:

1. To make quality education truly relevant and responsive to the special needs of working children, and accessible to them.
2. To act on the pending Anti-Child Labor Act or SB1530 as one of the priority bills in the legislative agenda of the Senate before its recess.

Finally, we believe that the inroads to stability and national healing must be guided by respecting the legitimate people's agenda, which includes the progressive elimination of child labor, especially its worst forms.